This article aims on providing the informations on installing and setting up Arch Linux on the Samsung N120. Basically I used information from [[Samsung NC10]] netbook wiki.

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[[Category:HOWTOs (English)]]

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=Introduction=

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A lot of the information is derived from the [https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=58117 NC10 Arch Forum] and [https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=77218 N120 Arch Forum] and several hints scattered around in the ArchWiki.

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This article aims on providing the informations on installing and setting up Arch Linux on the Samsung N120. Basically I used information from [[NC10]] netbook wiki.

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A lot of the information is derived from the [http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=58117 NC10 Arch Forum] and [http://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=77218 N120 Arch Forum] and several hints scattered around in the ArchWiki.

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=Prior to Installation, current state and Common Issues You Should Be Aware Of=

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Following information is based on kernel 2.6.32 (2010.04.08).

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Here I will try to collect common and special suggestions concerning installing Arch Linux on Samsung N120 netbook.

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* Suspend to RAM and Suspend to Disk works perfectly.

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* Webcam works out-of-the-box, even with Skype.

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=Prior to Installation, Common Issues You Should Be Aware Of=

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* Volume controls and LAN works.

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* WLAN works out of the box for Atheros hardware and with Realtek hardware after installing firmware.

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* Installation from USB flash works after you add acpi=off to the kernel parameters.

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* Audio (including onboard microphone, speakers and audio off on earphone plugging) is working flawlessly.

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* On kernel 2.6.30 webcam is working but not for Skype, but with kernel 2.6.31 from testing repository it works (with LD_PRELOAD trick, i.e. start skype in the following way: $LD_PRELOAD=/usr/lib/libv4l/v4l1compat.so /usr/bin/skype or write your own bash script)

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* It is possible to get all Fn+key combinations working (See Fn-keys and fix).

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* Suspend to RAM and Suspend to Disk works perfectly on 2.6.30 and 2.6.31

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* Updating BIOS to version 07CE (or later) fixes some brightness control issues.

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* AFAIK, there is no known good way to map Fn+(up/down) for controlling brightness. Everything else can be mapped through xbindkeys or using trick from ubuntu wiki (below).

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* If you encounter problems with the installation from USB disk, add acpi=off to the kernel parameters.

=Installation=

=Installation=

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==Network==

==Network==

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===Ethernet===

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Works out-of-the-box with stock kernel module <b>sky2</b>.

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===Wireless===

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{{accuracy|reason=needs to be confirmed that the firmware still isn't provided}}

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* With devices based on Atheros chip use the stock kernel module <b>ath5k</b>.

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* With Realtek based devices wireless works with stock kernel module <b>r8192e_pci</b>.

You can use [https://aur.archlinux.org/packages.php?ID=36675 rtl8192e-firmware-git] from AUR to install the firmware files or get pre-created package from here: [http://www.ihku.biz/SamsungN120/rtl8192e-firmware-git-20100424-1-any.pkg.tar.xz rtl8192e-firmware-git-20100424-1-any.pkg.tar.xz].

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Should work out-of-the-box now. WLAN uses the ath5k module and LAN, sky2.

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The driver needs firmware files that are not currently included in linux-firmware, so grab them as follows:

The Video controller is a typical Intel chipset that works with the xf86-video-intel driver (or xf86-video-intel-new from AUR)

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The Video controller is a typical [[Intel]] chipset that works with the xf86-video-intel driver (or xf86-video-intel-new from AUR)

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To save some interrupts and therefore power you can disable dri in your xorg.conf. This disables 3D effects but if you don't need them this could be an option.

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To save some interrupts and therefore power you can disable dri in your xorg.conf. This disables 3D effects but if you do not need them this could be an option.

Section "Device"

Section "Device"

Option "NoDRI"

Option "NoDRI"

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==Audio==

==Audio==

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The audio device is an Intel HD. Since alsa 1.0.19 distributed in archlinux extra repository, you don't need to manually install alsa driver. Everything is working out of the box: onboard microphone and speakers, audio off on earphone plugging.

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The audio device is an Intel HD. Since alsa 1.0.19 distributed in archlinux extra repository, you do not need to manually install alsa driver. Everything is working out of the box: onboard microphone and speakers, audio off on earphone plugging.

'''Troubleshooting :'''

'''Troubleshooting :'''

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* One user reported that he had to disable every snd module in his rc.conf except for two: snd_hda_intel and snd_pcm_oss.

* One user reported that he had to disable every snd module in his rc.conf except for two: snd_hda_intel and snd_pcm_oss.

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* [deprecated] if the speakers don't mute when you plug in headphones, you may need to compile alsa.

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* [deprecated] if the speakers do not mute when you plug in headphones, you may need to compile alsa.

Download latest alsa build. Extract the tar.bz2 and open a console on alsa source folder

Download latest alsa build. Extract the tar.bz2 and open a console on alsa source folder

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To bind the Fn keys to action, read [[Extra_Keyboard_Keys#The_quick_way]] and also [[Extra_Keyboard_Keys_in_Xorg#Using_your_Desktop_Environment_tools|Extra Keyboard Keys in Xorg]]. The suspend key (Fn+ESC) and disable touchpad (Fn+F10) keys should work out of the box. Note, that suspend key is handled in /etc/acpi/handler.sh (see "power/sleep" case entry). If you use pm-utils, you should substitute the default action with the call to pm-suspend or pm-hibernate.

To bind the Fn keys to action, read [[Extra_Keyboard_Keys#The_quick_way]] and also [[Extra_Keyboard_Keys_in_Xorg#Using_your_Desktop_Environment_tools|Extra Keyboard Keys in Xorg]]. The suspend key (Fn+ESC) and disable touchpad (Fn+F10) keys should work out of the box. Note, that suspend key is handled in /etc/acpi/handler.sh (see "power/sleep" case entry). If you use pm-utils, you should substitute the default action with the call to pm-suspend or pm-hibernate.

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This tweak taken from [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NC10 Ubuntu wiki]. To get volume and brightness Fn keys work in Gnome you have make sure that gnome-power-manager is running and add ";N120" to the list of Samsung models in /usr/share/hal/fdi/information/10freedesktop/30-keymap-misc.fdi, i.e.

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This tweak taken from [https://help.ubuntu.com/community/NC10 Ubuntu wiki]. To get volume and brightness Fn keys work in Gnome you have to make sure that gnome-power-manager is running and add ";N120" to the list of Samsung models in /usr/share/hal/fdi/information/10freedesktop/30-keymap-misc.fdi, i.e.

Video

Initial Brightness

The full brightness can be set with the following command

setpci -s 00:02.1 F4.B=FF

where FF is the highest level of brightness. That parameter moves in the range 00..FF. Don't set it too low because your backlight will turn off! I tried different parameters and optimal are F.4B=45 or F.4B=50. I added setpci -s 00:02.1 F4.B=40 to my /etc/rc.local.

Graphics Adapter

The Video controller is a typical Intel chipset that works with the xf86-video-intel driver (or xf86-video-intel-new from AUR)

To save some interrupts and therefore power you can disable dri in your xorg.conf. This disables 3D effects but if you do not need them this could be an option.

Audio

The audio device is an Intel HD. Since alsa 1.0.19 distributed in archlinux extra repository, you do not need to manually install alsa driver. Everything is working out of the box: onboard microphone and speakers, audio off on earphone plugging.

Troubleshooting :

If the volume is too low, or lower than in Windows run alsamixer, and set "front" to 100%.

If the microphone does not work, press F4 in alsamixer and play with the settings (boost to 0, digital and capture to mid-values, and input to front-mic should be a sane default).

Note that settings can be saved with "alsactl store"

One user reported that he had to disable every snd module in his rc.conf except for two: snd_hda_intel and snd_pcm_oss.

[deprecated] if the speakers do not mute when you plug in headphones, you may need to compile alsa.

Download latest alsa build. Extract the tar.bz2 and open a console on alsa source folder

Suspend and Hibernate

Pm-suspend should work correctly without any quirks at the moment.

You can use this command not only to suspend from terminal but also in combination with acpid

If after closing the lid your machine doesn't wake up from suspend correctly and needs to be resumed multiple times, you can try using the following workaround. This is an excerpt from /etc/acpid/handler.sh file:

In contrast hibernate works without "modifications" (except the ones mentioned in the pm-utils article).

If you are a kde4/kdemod user you can take advantage of powerdevil (included in kdemod-core/kdemod-kdebase-workspace since release 4.2). Screen brightness, cpu scaling, suspend and hibernate all work flawlessly, without any hack.

Right after resume you may notice (i.e. in powertop) lost support for C2 and C4 CPU states. Don't panic. Those modes are likely to return in several minutes.

Fn Keys

You need at least kernel 2.6.28.4 to get the Fn keys to work correctly.

(Volume Controls worked out of the box in kdemod 4.2)

To bind the Fn keys to action, read Extra_Keyboard_Keys#The_quick_way and also Extra Keyboard Keys in Xorg. The suspend key (Fn+ESC) and disable touchpad (Fn+F10) keys should work out of the box. Note, that suspend key is handled in /etc/acpi/handler.sh (see "power/sleep" case entry). If you use pm-utils, you should substitute the default action with the call to pm-suspend or pm-hibernate.

This tweak taken from Ubuntu wiki. To get volume and brightness Fn keys work in Gnome you have to make sure that gnome-power-manager is running and add ";N120" to the list of Samsung models in /usr/share/hal/fdi/information/10freedesktop/30-keymap-misc.fdi, i.e.